TikTok reportedly mulls corporate changes amid growing security concerns

Chinese internet major ByteDance is considering changing up the corporate structure of TikTok as the app remains under scrutiny in the US and India over security concerns.

Photo credit: Pikist

The company’s executives are now weighing some options, including forming a new management board for TikTok and establishing a separate headquarters for the app outside of China, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

A spokesperson for TikTok told Tech in Asia that the company is indeed mulling shaking up its corporate structure, but kept specific details undisclosed.

“We will move forward in the best interest of our users, employees, artists, creators, partners, and policymakers,” the spokesperson added.

TikTok, which currently doesn’t have its own headquarters, is also said to be considering several locations for its global offices. According to the report, its five largest offices are in New York, London, Dublin, Singapore, and Los Angeles, where its CEO Kevin Mayer is based in.

TikTok welcomed Mayer in May after he had led the streaming business of US entertainment behemoth Disney. At TikTok, he’s tasked with spearheading the short-video app’s global push.

The app has seen a surge in downloads as millions of mobile users stay at home due to the pandemic. According to Sensor Tower, the app was downloaded a total of 2 billion times as of April; roughly 315 million of these downloads came during the first quarter of this year.

This growth, however, has put TikTok in security regulators’ crosshairs. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently said that the government is looking to block the app in the country amid mounting concerns that China can use it to spy on and spread propaganda among its users.

TikTok is also one of the 59 apps that were recently banned in India. The Indian government claimed that the apps have been “stealing and then surreptitiously transmitting” user data to locations outside of the country.

In defense, TikTok reiterated that it doesn’t store any user information in China. The company also assured that it will refuse any request by the Chinese government to censor content or to access its user data, should such situations arise.

Most recently, ByteDance said TikTok will be exiting the Hong Kong market after the region adopted a new national security law that grants expanded powers to the government of mainland China.

Update (July 10, 5:00 pm): This article was updated to include comments from TikTok.